Benjamin Bassi
President and CEO, CommonPlaces e-Solutions

As a founding member of Lycos.com, Ben Bassi has been at the forefront of online innovation for almost two decades. A pioneer of online communities (social networking, before the phrase was coined), Ben worked as EVP of Sales and Marketing at Firefly Network (which was acquired by Microsoft and became MSN Passport). During his time as the head of YouthStream Media, the company worked with 250 colleges and universities to facilitate online communication between their faculty and student population with the early social networking sites MyBytes and SixDegrees.

Under Bassi’s leadership, CommonPlaces e-Solutions is one of the fastest growing Web development firms in New England, achieving Inc 500 for 2009. Since 1993, Ben has motivated the talented team at CommonPlaces to deliver online community experiences and collaborative data solutions that go beyond just another social network.